doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Help with Parker stock finish.

What i have is a parker dhe grade 16ga.The gun is in fantastic shape.The only problem it has is in the head of the stock.It has started to look like it is fading and starting to become dull and dried out looking.I have posted some pictures to show what i am talking about.The gun is only shoot once or twice a year.It stays in my safe.I have owned it about ten years now.I noticed the problem a couple of years ago and noticed it was getting worse.I removed the stock today and noticed oil standing on the head.were the wood meets the iron.So is this oil soaking into the head?What can i do to fix it.I don't want to refinish the stock as it looks to be original and is in great condition.What can i do?

In my opinion something has caused the finish where the stock meets the action to wear. A number of things could have caused this (handling, someone polishing the action with the stock in place, oil softening the existing finish,etc). It is dificult to determine if the finish is original based on your photos alone. If it is not the original finish, it may just be a less than ideal refinish. If the finish is original, I would leave it alone and remove any excess oil. If not then this area can be touched up by adding more finish to the area. This is especially easy to do if the stock is finished with shellac (Parker's oringinal finish). If it is another type of finish it can be a little more difficult to have the areas of new and old finish blend evenly and may require a new top coat to the entire stock. I hope this is helpful.

Suggest you post this on the Parker forum: http://www.parkergun.org/forums/forum1/

Looks like a swell gun. Those boys will want to see more pics (particularly the frame and barrels)

What a beautiful stock! I would rub a light drop of tru oil on faded places then immediately wipe off with paper towel.Let dry a couple of days and repeat this process several times and see if it will put shine on the dull places. Bobby

The original finish is French Polish, shellac, and the red color is probaly due to the use of Garnet Shellac. I see unfilled pores at the head which means that the finish was disolved by something.
The universal shellac thinner/remover is alcohol! If you have a real Pro doing antique furniture finish I would check with him. NO SANDING!
bill

Wouldn't whiting be an ideal agent to remove some of the oil without harming the finish? Perhaps warmed slightly in sunlight, etc.? Might take a couple weeks but.....

As Joe said Whiting. Used on the inner surface it coulden't hurt. espically if it was done over several days.

Regards, Gordon

I'll let the more experienced gun cranks comment on this proposed approach, but I think it would work.

Assuming that your finish is the original French polish and that you have oil in the head of the stock, you might try a combination of warm temps and whiting, after standing the head of the stock in mineral spirits to dissolve some of the embedded oil. The mineral spirits will wick into the fibers by capillary action, and will not swell the grain. Might take several cycles, but mineral spirits should not damage the existing finish. I would not apply any new finish until I had gotten out as much of the oil as possible. From what I can see in the pics, it almost looks like someone tried to clean off the action with alcohol, and got some on the stock.

I think this could have been caused by the use of mosquito repellent on the hands and body, which I have noticed in the past, will remove finishes on stocks. It ruined a Fox finish for me when I was young and ignorant.

binko